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Nissan GT Academy episode two review: One more down after mud, water and night driving

November 14, 2012

Episode three of the Nissan GT Academy premieres at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night on Spike TV. If you didn’t catch last week’s show, don’t worry, we have the recap—and the footage—right here.

The Nissan GT Academy is a contest where video gamers compete in Gran Turismo 5 for a chance to become a real race-car driver. This is the second annual contest held in the United States. It’s also held in Europe and Japan.

Episode two started with the 10 remaining competitors continuing to fight for their dream at the Silverstone Circuit in England. Challenges include driving events and physical competitions to hone the behind-the-wheel skills and the body for endurance. This episode started with some off-road work with the Nissan Frontier pickup truck. The drivers had varying levels of success, except for Brian Rice from Texas, who predictably wheeled the muddy truck around the course without many problems. Rice says he learned to drive in mud fields similar to the course.

Next up was G-force training with aerobatic pilots in prop planes. The event wasn’t judged by points, but the competitors’ reactions were noted by judges Danny Sullivan, Boris Said and Maryeve Dufault.

The third challenge was on-track passing in the Nissan GT-R. Competitors had to compete with three driving instructors on a wet track, passing them all within three laps.

The last challenge of the day was driving the Nissan Leaf electric car—at night. The judges explained to the drivers that during endurance racing you have a boatload of other factors to contend with in addition to the darkness. They simulated this by using smoke machines and sending unannounced cars on the track to flash their high beams.

The GT Academy only let one driver go this episode, as opposed to six in the first episode. Tonight we expect them to eliminate at least two or three more.